I regret paying back my fake-debt

My debt came in very early in the latest batch that's been in the media. Around October last year I had a notice that I'd been overpaid around $1200. Unlike many who'd been on a disability support pension and found work, I had treatment for my disorder that enabled me to find a very good job, and I had the funds to pay it.

I almost paid it right off the bat.

However, the letter noted I had to provide information about my pay at the time. I logged onto the centrelink portal, and found the instructions for discovering how much I owed did not appear. The part of the site described as "Money I owe" did not appear when I logged in. Drilling down into the site a little, I found a small link to the online version of the mail letter I received - and it took me to a site that described what I owed.

It didn't take long for me to see the system had presumed I was paid throughout the entirety of the July 2011-June2012 period, where I'd actually found work in November 2011 and went off the DSP in early 2012. My pay had been averaged out over the entire year and my centrelink pay adjusted. It was an entirely false 'debt'.

I keep meticulous records and still have all my payslips from that time - and the online letter directed me to a part of the centrelink site that appeared to allow me to enter my pay. I attempted to enter my pay but found some of the false numbers were locked in and I was unable to change them. I tried logging out and back in, and found the online version of the letter had disappeared, did not appear in any kind of inbox I could find, and I still had no "Money I Owe" option.

I made an appointment at Centrelink during work lunch hours, and attempted to work it out. I had it explained to me that I put in the wrong amounts for my pay. I tried to explain at the meeting that I could not have put in 'wrong amounts' for the pay at a job I did not yet work at, as I didn't know until November that there was even an opening at the place. Yet there were values entered, averaged out from the whole year, during July, August etc.

I had all my pay slips with me, and attempted to go through them all with the centrelink staff member. He didn't have time to do them all and directed me to the portal. I explained I had no "Money I owe" section to find the info, and I was given a sheet of instructions and sent on my way. Again, I logged in and no luck. I phoned Centrelink to see if I could have my login fixed, and was told I needed to come in for a meeting - another hour and a half out of my workday and a little more adjusting of my login, which STILL didn't give me the info I needed to fix the problem. The staff member refused to address the issue there face to face, and pointed me to the mobile app (which crashes on my phone) or the login which he now claimed to fix.

Again I got home, and the login gave me minimal information but no way to address or appeal the debt.

By this time my boss annoyed at my time off, I received another letter noting that my debt (now $1008, as I had managed to enter SOME of my payslip information in) was going to be sent to a debt collector.

I just paid the thing. I gave up. I lost hours and hours of productive work time, time on the phone, time attempting to work a horrendously designed website, I lost $1008 to a fake debt, and while I was able to afford it from my savings it still matters that it was demonstrably *wrong*.

I feel I'm being punished for beginning work. Worst thing is my respect for Centrelink has gone downhill. I almost paid the full amount when it came in, simply because Centrelink had supported me in my illness and recovery and I could not be where I am without it. However, what's to stop another spurious debt coming up? My centrelink login STILL does not allow me to see half the information most people I know can. I don't have the time to address their screwup as I'm actually working now.